Friendship
by happyfunball
Summary: <html><head></head>Kurama tries to figure out how he could tell Henteko the truth about himself and Hiei without breaking her heart.</html>


"Shu-i-chi!" Kurama turned his back to the voice, and soon felt Henteko leap upon him in her usual piggy-back/hug. He placed his hands under her legs, and began carrying her out.

"Hello, Henteko," he said gently, smelling her unique vanilla scent rising from her arms. "Milkshake?"

"Milkshake." Henteko grinned, nestling her face in the back of Kurama's neck. "Is Hiei coming, too?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled by Kurama's hair.

Kurama sighed. "I never know what Hiei is doing." Henteko pouted.

"That stinks."

"Mm."

Once they had left the building, Henteko dropped down from Kurama's back and cheerily looped her arm through Kurama's. He was used to this by now; Henteko continuously showed affection like this.

"So...Shuichi...how come Hiei called you...um...Kurama?" Henteko questioned, not making eye contact with Kurama. He was silent, glancing at her for a moment, then looking down at the ground, thinking about her question. Was it safe to tell her? She already knew Hiei, and knew that he was different. She knew that she could see demons, and was already able to control some of her spirit energy. Learning about demons, though, could take a toll on a normal human girl. She believed nothing more than in the good of people, and telling her that things were not, had never been, as she believed, could hurt her greatly.

"It's just a meaningless nickname," Kurama murmured, hating to have to lie. "Nothing more."

"Alright," Henteko said. They turned into the milkshake shop and stood in line. Henteko placed her head on Kurama's shoulder gently.

..

Kurama walked away from the milkshake shop once they were done, his hands in his pockets.

"Hiei, come down here," he called. Hiei flew down from a nearby tree and landed next to Kurama, where he continued walking.

"What's up with you?" Hiei questioned, sticking his hands into his pockets. Kurama didn't reply, as the pair continued walking. Hiei could tell he was deep in thought, and raised an eyebrow. "Answer me Kurama," Hiei ordered, becoming annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Hiei," Kurama mumbled. "I'm just thinking about Henteko." Hiei groaned, a long, drawn out sound of annoyance.

"Good grief, Kurama, don't tell me you've developed feelings for this human," he grumbled. Kurama released a small, humorless laugh.

"Not quite," he replied. "No...it's just that I'm unsure whether to tell her the truth about us or not." Hiei's brow furrowed.

"I thought you already had," he told Kurama. "After all, she saw me, fought me, and heard me call you Kurama. Why wouldn't you?"

"Because being told that everything you know is a lie really could hurt a person," Kurama answered. Henteko's known me for a while, and learning that I'm a demon might basically shatter her perception of reality. Humans don't know of the existence of demons for a reason." Kurama had reached his house, so he stopped, causing Hiei to stop, too. Hiei crossed his arms, pursing his lips.

"So you just want to keep another human trailing around you?" he asked skeptically. "It's up to you, I guess. Just don't whine to me when she gets annoying." Kurama smiled with a half-chuckle, then gave a small wave to Hiei as he entered his house.

..

Henteko hummed jauntily to herself as she made her way home. 'Shuichi seemed extra pensieve today,' she thought, pausing her whistling. 'I wonder what's wrong.' There was a flash and Henteko froze in her tracks as her heart skipped a beat. The hand holding her school bag shook slightly as she clenched her fist tighter. She released a relieved sigh when she realized that it was just Hiei, who leaned casually against a lamp post.

"Oh! H - Hi, Hiei," Henteko said shakily, unsure what to make of his sudden appearance.

"Henteko, right?" Hiei asked coolly, leaving the lamp post and striding towards Henteko.

"Yeah..." Henteko said slowly, following Hiei's movement with her eyes. Once he had passed out of her peripheral sight, her eyes moved back forward.

"I have something to tell you about the one you know as...'Shuichi,'" Hiei began, stopping just beyond Henteko's shoulder. Henteko's eyes widened as her brow furrowed and she looked at the ground.

"What about him?" she questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Me too," Hiei added. "You see, we're not like you. We're demons."

"Demons?" Henteko turned quickly, her eyes wide, but seeing somewhere beyond Hiei. He was still at her shoulder, and he allowed himself a small, self-satisfied grin as he realized the effect his words were having on her.

"And his real name isn't Shuichi Minamino," Hiei said. "He's a fox demon named Kurama, trapped within a human body. He shouldn't even be down here. The only reason he is here is that he didn't want to be captured for a crime he committed while still a demon. He's been trapped in that body ever since, and he is too affectionate for his so-called 'mother' to leave. Me, this is my punishment for committing a horrible crime against the Spirit World. Neither of us really want to be here. We're part of a race of creatures that eat humans as their regular diet." He paused, then looked at Henteko. She was trembling. Hiei smiled. "My job is done." He vanished. Henteko was left alone in the street.

She stood there for a while, shaking and trying to collect her thoughts. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thought about how Shuichi - no, Kurama - wasn't human, had never been human. How could he have kept such a thing from her? Especially since she had met Hiei... Did he not trust her enough? Was she actually not regarded as his friend? This explained how she could see things others couldn't - she could see demons. Still, Henteko told herself, that didn't change the fact that Kurama and Hiei weren't human. She knew that she could still accept Kurama if the way he behaved towards her was how he actually behaved as a person. Not being human was trivial, as all that it changed was knowledge. That Henteko could live with. She panicked internally, unsure if Kurama was just pretending to befriend her so that he could eat her soul or something.

Henteko fell to her knees.

..

"What is it, Hiei?" Kurama asked patiently, his pencil moving swiftly across his paper as he completed his math homework.

"I solved your problem for you," Hiei told him, sitting in his window calmly. He recalled with a small smile the pain that human was probably going through. Kurama froze.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, his voice a quiet murmur that had underlying tones of incredible hidden malice.

"I told her the truth." Hiei shrugged. "I'm a demon, you're a demon...it was simple."

"Hiei!" Kurama bellowed, rushing forward and grabbing a fistful of Hiei's shirt. "Why did you do that?"

"It was a trivial thing, and now it's out of the way," Hiei replied, a hint of hardness coming into his voice. "I don't see why you care so much."

"Dammit, Hiei," Kurama growled, throwing open his door and running down the stairs and outside his house. Hiei groaned, and decided to follow through the trees.

..

"Wh - What the hell are you?""

"Nothing of consequence."

Henteko slammed into a nearby tree. The demon she was facing licked its lips, probably envisioning the delicious meal this human's soul would make. Henteko willed herself to get up, alying on the ground in pain. Her hands bled from when she tried to block the attacks he had launched at her, attacks made of energy that could slice through things easily. With difficulty, she went up on her elbow, looking her demonic attacker in the eyes.

"I do prefer living souls," he said, "but you're putting up far too much of a fight. Taking you dead will be so much easier." He raised his hand, preparing to strike again. He slammed it down, but Henteko rolled out of the way just in time. Behind her, a huge gash appeared in the bark of the nearby tree. Henteko struggled to her feet. The demon raised his hand again, and Henteko discovered that she couldn't move. Her soul was going to be eaten, and she was going to die, without being able to defend herself against it. And there was nothing she could do about it.

"Rose whip!"

The demon released a horrible scream, his wrist spouting blood. His hand fell to the ground with a sickening thud, and he waved his stump of an arm about in his pain. In front of Henteko, a black-shoed foot touched the ground. Henteko's eyes widened.

"Sh - Shuichi." He turned to glance over his shoulder, and gave her a small smile.

"Are you alright, Henteko?" he asked, striding towards her. Henteko looked at him in shock. He came to save her. Behind him, the demon was approaching again. Henteko opened her mouth to warn him, but could only make half-formed sounds. Kurama's brow furrowed. "Are you okay?" The demon was raising his hand over his head. Henteko didn't want Kurama to get hurt. He had come to save her, to protect her, and she was supposed to sit back and watch him get hurt? All over her? Her emotions began to build up. Within, she could feel her energy mounting. As if in slow motion, Kurama turned as the demon's hand came down...down...

Henteko screamed out her rage and her annoyance with her weakness. Accompanied with the scream was a blast of her purple flame. Pouring out of her mouth, it hit the demon in the face, and sent the fire all down his person. He roared in pain as he felt his energy swiftly being cut away. Kurama and Henteko watched the fire in surprise, unsure what to think. The demon fell to his knees, too fatigued to remain standing. There was a flash of black and suddenly, the demon's head rolled to the side. Henteko and Kurama gasped.

Hiei was crouched down, his sword out and pointing at the ground. He stood up, ignoring the purple flames dying out behind him. Calmly, he sheathed his sword and turned around.

"Stupid humans," Hiei grumbled. "Always counting on someone else to save them."

"Hey!" Henteko called. "Who said I was counting on anyone else to save me? I had him fine!"

"Yes, just fine until Kurama had to come and save your ass," Hiei snapped. Henteko opened her mouth to retort, then realized that Hiei was right. If Kurama hadn't come along to save her, she would be dead. There was no doubt about it. Her legs suddenly locked, and she began to tremble.

"Henteko!" Kurama hurried forward just as Henteko's legs gave way. He caught her in his arm and sank with her momentum, falling to his knee. She shook in his arms, burying her face into his shoulder. The sobs wrenched from her chest as she put her hands on his back, clenching his shirt in her fists. He could feel her tears on his shoulder and put his arms around her gently. "It's okay, Henteko," he murmured in her ear. "You're alright." He glanced up for a moment, making stolid eye contact with Hiei, who crossed his arms and looked away, unsure how to regard Kurama's expression. The three of them stayed like that for a while, waiting for Henteko to release the rest of her tears into Kurama's shoulder.

..

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kurama asked, putting a hand up to the bandage on Henteko's head. In her smile, her eyes closed cheerily, putting a hand to her own bandage, too.

"I'm sure," she told him, putting her bandaged hand back on her lap.

"You weren't at school today," Kurama remarked, handing Henteko a pack of papers. "Here's the work you missed." Henteko stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Gee...thanks," she said sarcastically, and Kurama released a small chuckle. They both went silent for a moment, and Henteko began fidgeting with her sheets restlessly.

"K – Kurama?" she stammered quietly. He looked up calmly.

"Yes?" he responded, then realized what she had called him. His eyes widened and he gasped. "Henteko," he said, reaching out a hand. Henteko's eyes clenched shut and she almost flinched away from his hand.

"So that is your name," she murmured. Her fists clenched on her sheets. "W – Why...?"

"I'm sorry, Henteko, I should have said – " Kurama began.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Henteko cried, her eyebrows pushing together. She looked up at Kurama, whose eyes widened. He noticed the tears pooling in the base of her eyes and opened his mouth to reply, but she continued. "It's just a name! If you are who you say you are, then I don't care what your name is!" Kurama pulled back, turning his face down so his hair obscured his eyes.

"I'm not, though," he mumbled. "I'm a demon just inside the body of a human."

"I don't care!"

Kurama looked up sharply. She didn't care...? "B – But I'm not – "

"You're not human, I know, but your mannerisms are still you. They don't change if you're a demon or not. So long as you are the same Shuichi I knew, then I don't care." The tears ran down her cheeks and fell onto her sheets near her hands. "If your human mannerisms were just a lie to get closer to other humans, then yes, I do care. That would mean that _everything_ you told me was a lie. That bothers me. So tell me the truth. Who are you?" Kurama allowed a wan smile across his face.

"I am exactly who you know," he told her gently. Henteko smiled, relieved. She let out a half-chuckle, her eyebrows pushing together again.

"I'm glad," she breathed, and lost her smile, allowing her tears to overcome her. Kurama sat down nearby silently, unsure what to do. When she came near the end of her tears, Kurama grabbed a nearby tissue and gave it to her. She blew her nose, releasing a small chuckle at her own tears at the same time. "I seem to just keep breaking down whenever I'm near you," she commented. Kurama smiled. He stood, took a step forward, and leaned down to kiss Henteko's forehead gently. Once he stepped away, she looked upat him. He raised his hand in farewell and walked away, leaving her room. Henteko's eyes dropped back down to her bandaged hands in her lap.

That night, Henteko felt like sleeping with one of her stuffed animals. She grabbed one of her favorites, and eventually fell asleep with the small fox tucked under her cheek.


End file.
